Rebekah Vlaanderen and Graeme Hopcroft own a 9-hectare property at Oropi, near Tauranga. About half a hectare is planted in passionfruit, tamarillos, bananas and chillis. When the couple first took over the orchard, there were around 450 passionfruit plants. However, passionfruit yield has declined significantly in the orchard due to passionfruit wilt which is affecting orchards across the Bay of Plenty in the past few years.
That is why the NZ Passionfruit Growers Association is trialling rootstocks from Australia in the hope this can combat passionfruit wilt. Ms Vlaanderen was the president of the association for four years, but before she left that role last year, she started a rootstock project. The project trials the Australian passionfruit variety used there as a rootstock and how it will perform in New Zealand conditions.
“We’re trialling that in orchards at the moment, we’re now 12 to 18 months into the project. My orchard is one of those trialling the rootstock, but we don’t know if it’s going to be too cold here for that rootstock to do well. The solution is a rootstock, it’s just finding the right one.”
Despite the challenge of passionfruit wilt, Ms Vlaanderen says growing food is rewarding and full of satisfaction.
Source: hortnz.co.nz
